NationStates Jolt Archive

Category: The Furtherment of Democracy
Strength: Strong
Proposed by: Odela

Description: This esteemed body, the United Nations, proposes the following improvements to the educational system of all member countries:

1. Schooling shall now be optional once the pupil has reached the age of 13. This will weed out those who will not be truly productive members of society. With those pupils who are not serious about the learning process out of the system, those who are will have a better environment for learning. These pupils who have been ejected from the system will be allowed to search for jobs in the private sector, including Manufacturing and Service jobs.

2. Standards to proceed to the next level of schooling shall be increased. To pass to the next grade, the pupil must meet certain test requirements in mathematics, science, language, and various other categories. This will ensure the pupil has learned what is necessary from the given grade.

3. Schooling shall begin at the age of 3 with Pre-school, which is now mandatory. There shall be 2 years of Pre-School, PreK1 and PreK2. Then there shall be Grades 1-8 which will all be mandatory. After they have successfully passed Grade 8, they will be given the choice to continue schooling or not. The strict curriculums that will be offered will ensure that even if the given pupil does not want to continue to Grade 9, they will still have enough of a general understanding of the world to succeed in most areas.

4. Grades 9-12 will consist of higher learning. Pupils will harness the ability to choose certain classes as opposed to others. During this time, they must maintain certain standards to stay in school. Schooling will be free as long as they can maintain those standards. If they do not maintain the given standards, they will be ejected from the schooling program.

5. Once a given pupil has graduated from grade 12, they shall be given another opportunity to go on to grades 13-14. Although a graduation from grade 12 guarantees you opportunities at nearly every private sector job, moving on gives you the opportunity for EVERY job possible. These, the two highest tiers of learning, will be given to those who want to succeed in Law, Politics, or some other field that needs a special degree.

6. Education will be free, paid for by taxpayers from the given country. As long as children meet the standards, it can remain that way.

7. The taxpayer money shall be watched over by a private watchdog group, to make sure money is never wasted on trivial things, like football pads and pompoms.

The Rogue Nation of Odela hereby proposes this law to be enacted, along with the support of the nations here undersigned.



UN Delegates: I'd appreciate it if you added your country's name as an approval! :)

Nice proposal. Looks like you've put a lot of work into it.

I like certain parts of it. I don't like other parts of it. I like a lot of the ideas you have, but I fear that some UN members will oppose such a system being "forced" upon them (words they'll use, not me).

This system has strong and vibrant underlying ideas, though (such as the idea that public school systems should encourage preschool, allow students more choice, and that education systems be streamlined to ensure maximum learning). Keep hold of these. If those that oppose it (as noted above) succeed and this proposal doesn't reach quorum, bring it back here and return to those original ideas.

You can present those ideas in a different way or modified from this text and I'd hope those same opponents that would've defeated it before would then tell you what they wish to be changed. I'm sure that from there a compromise can be reached. But, stick to your guns, as much as possible.

Good Luck!

How exactly does one enact world-wide education standards? We're studying different histories, different literatures, different languages. For example, basic Lower Freedonian Music courses are centered heavily around the works of Kirsty Maccoll and exams involve being able to affect a Croydon accent. We believe this is vital to higher education, but other nations may disagree. And don't get me started on our most common 100-level art class, "Introduction to Jack Kirby".

*UN representative for the Rogue Nation of Odela James Marvolo stands and speaks...*

Powerhungry Chipmunks, I appreciate the kind words. This was indeed my first draft of a proposal, and I read over the um, guidelines to make sure I was following the rules. I don't expect it to achieve quorem on the first try, but hopefully I can adjust the contents to eventually achieve quorem.

Lower Freedonia, you bring up good points. I actually didn't consider that. Basically, this all falls under the idea of universal mathematical/science standards...and then with the other standards, I will have to consider that myself. I would imagine that would have to be included in the next draft of this proposal.

Good Proposal, Odela.

However, I would remove clause 6:

6. Education will be free, paid for by taxpayers from the given country. As long as children meet the standards, it can remain that way.

A resolution titled "Free Education" has already been passed and covers this subject.

Good Luck!

*The Republic of The Grand Dysreich stands*

“We must raise concerns at the idea that children should enter education at such a young age ie three years old. However our fears may be allayed if more information was provided to us on what would be expected of children at such an age.”

In the first point, you say that school is optional for those that turn 13. However, in the second point, you say that in order to continue schooling, the child must pass an exam. This is contradictory. I believe that if a child wants to continue their education, whether they are stupid or not (put bluntly), they should be able to.

Of course, I suppose there is a problem when the student wishes to stay in school only to stay in school for free and not worry about other things. This presents quite a dilemma. Perhaps an exam might be issued. But I believe the past performance of the student should also be considered, and if that student really is a hard worker, regardless of how well they did on the exam, they should be able to continue their education.

"Although a graduation from grade 12 guarantees you opportunities at nearly every private sector job, moving on gives you the opportunity for EVERY job possible. These, the two highest tiers of learning, will be given to those who want to succeed in Law, Politics, or some other field that needs a special degree. "

How does it guarantee you a job? This must be mentioned in the resolution in order for it to even be considered.

"7. The taxpayer money shall be watched over by a private watchdog group, to make sure money is never wasted on trivial things, like football pads and pompoms"

Are you suggesting that all nations discourage their children to be athletic? Hmmm, with obesity figures the way they are in this day and age, I would encourage students to take better care of their bodies. Now, I don't believe in over-funding athletics and giving them more attention than the educated people, but we still need to teach our children to exercise and lead a healthy life style.

Basically, this all falls under the idea of universal mathematical/science standards...and then with the other standards, I will have to consider that myself. I would imagine that would have to be included in the next draft of this proposal.

Hmmm, even this has dire consequences. The Aztecs used a different number system than the Mayans or the Incas. I agree that there should be a universal standard. However, nations should also be able to teach the cirriculum they so desire. Kinda like having an English language class and a Spanish language class. The standard may be English, but Spanish is a choice.

I do agree with the intent of the proposal to make education free for all, and to increase the desire of the environment for those that do want to continue their education. But there are many issues to be reconsidered before Tihland approves of this proposal.

I agree that this proposal is based on some sound ideas. I do have a concern, though, that to 'eject' children from school at age 13 would set many member nations up to run afoul of their own child labor laws.

A two-track secondary education system, consisting of intermediate/advanced academics as one track and vocational training including an apprenticeship system as the other, could be a useful way to address this concern. However, to dictate this kind of detail for member nations' education systems may be viewed as overreaching.

*UN representative for the Rogue Nation of Odela James Marvolo stands and speaks...*

I appreciate the help from all of you. This probably has a better chance of passing when I draft the second attempt...

First, to Hersfold, thanks for pointing that out to me. It does help eliminate a bit of redundancy.

The Grand Dysreich, you also brought up a gaping hole in my resolution I didn't even consider. I will make sure to add this in detail in the next proposal. At this young, fragile age pupils will not have difficult reading or anything thrown at them, but rather very basic literacy learning... perhaps simple math (as in 1+1=2)... and most important of all, the learning of proper social habits.

Tihland...

"In the first point, you say that school is optional for those that turn 13. However, in the second point, you say that in order to continue schooling, the child must pass an exam. This is contradictory. I believe that if a child wants to continue their education, whether they are stupid or not (put bluntly), they should be able to."

I still stick to my opinion that exams are necessary to pass to the next grade... because there is no point in an education, a free one at that, if they aren't learning anything. I don't believe what I said was contradictory at all. If they turn 13, and they still haven't passed (for example) 4th grade, they have the option to leave. It would be an ill-advised move, and they would be recommended against it, but the option is there.

These tests aren't going to be terribly difficult. They are just there to make sure people are just being pushed along without learning anything...

I didn't say that graduating from Grade 12 guaranteed you a job. I said it guaranteed an opportunity at one. It's basically saying that after graduating from grade 12, you will have the education necessary to apply for almost any job.

I was not saying that athletics needed to be cut, the Rogue Nation of Odela is a proud sponsor of athletics. However, because education is free, to prevent an abuse of taxpayer money, I believe the purchases of pompoms and football pads should be left to the local governments and schools to handle. They can have bake sales.

Jovianica... you also brought up a vital point. What are 13 year olds going to do once they are "ejected" from the system? That almost needs to be brought up another resolution. I liked your idea of an apprenticeship... but what if the 13 year old actually doesn't want to do anything? They have that right under my resolution... so basically, by quitting school at 13 you're setting yourself up for a low-paying, mediocre job.

I appreciate all the help guys. This is my first resolution, as I said earlier, and you've definitely helped me by showing me points I overlooked.

*the UN representative from the Rogue Nation of Odela seats himself*

Don't get discouraged, there's definitely some stuff here worth working on.

For the sake of getting the resolution passed, I'd advise removing the bit about funding 'trivial' things. People looking for a reason to fight will latch on to that and torpedo an otherwise worthy proposal - and besides, while I admit to having opinions on the subject, who am I to say whether a production budget for student theatre is more important than equipping a football team? Outside my own school system, I'm nobody, that's who.

A little clarification on the testing for 13-year-olds and use of the results does seem to be in order. For instance, one could propose a test for mastery of native-language literacy skills (reading comprehension and writing), mathematics and physical sciences, leaving the "social studies" out of it because of the difficulty of developing an appropriate multicultural standard. The test result could be used to determine whether a school offered advanced or remedial classes to the student. And a resolution could call for development of vocational training and apprenticeship programs as an alternative to conventional secondary education for students who, with parental consent, choose to take them up. But to tell local systems that students testing below threshold have to be steered to vo-tech programs, for instance, seems like overreaching. I think mandating that the option must exist is enough of a nudge in that direction.

I think in this kind of system you'd get the results you want. High-aptitude kids would most likely continue to higher studies, though a small number of them may opt for vocational training. Low-aptitude and low-motivation kids would more likely take the head start at learning a trade so they can enter the job market as skilled labor, though some number of low-aptitude but high-motivation kids will push on through remedial classes to try to catch up to their more achieved peers. Either they'll succeed or they'll switch to vocational track later on.

I'm ambivalent about whether the option of dropping out completely as early as age 13 ought to exist or not. I think the dedicated libertarians who would say yes are in the minority.

I hope these suggestions are useful in some way or another.

Hello U.N. Representative to Odela!

Thank you for some of your clarifications!


I still stick to my opinion that exams are necessary to pass to the next grade... because there is no point in an education, a free one at that, if they aren't learning anything. I don't believe what I said was contradictory at all. If they turn 13, and they still haven't passed (for example) 4th grade, they have the option to leave. It would be an ill-advised move, and they would be recommended against it, but the option is there.


Then the question arises, who is responsible for the child not learning anything? Is it the government's fault for not providing enough funding? Is it the teacher's fault for not providing enough attention? Is the exam written objectively enough? You must not assume that just because the child does poorly, that it is the child's fault. Should the child do poorly (and it his/her fault), the child still has the option to remain in the same grade, correct? He/She may not go on to the next grade, but he/she can still attend school?

simple math (as in 1+1=2)...
What's to say that 1+1=10? After all, it does in the binary system. Maybe in the beginning grades the children should learn a standard, but they should have the option to change their mind in grade 9+, as you have mentioned in the proposal.

I was not saying that athletics needed to be cut, the Rogue Nation of Odela is a proud sponsor of athletics. However, because education is free, to prevent an abuse of taxpayer money, I believe the purchases of pompoms and football pads should be left to the local governments and schools to handle. They can have bake sales.
I didn't realize the local governments could still do their funding. Thanks for the clarification. So this resolution requires that governments not necessarily fund schools but that they fund education? As in, no clubs, organizations, or after school programs? I can deal with that. Perhaps we can deal with that in another resolution?

If the 13 year old does get rejected, I like the idea of also the requirement of funding a vocational school track. However, the 13 year old doesn't have to attend it if he/she doesn't want to.

13 is far too early I don't believe that most 13 year-olds are properly equipped to make that decision - 15 or 16 is a more sensible age to be able to choose to leave school. Plus, think about who is going to be making the decisions - it wouldn't be the child choosing to drop out in many cases, it'd be their parents, who might be greedy or desperate enough to pull their kid out of school and get him/her earning the family money ASAP.

Many nations have very good education systems which, although they work along different lines to your idea, produce good results, are suited to their society, and please the vast majority of citizens. Why fix what isn't broken? If you want to improve standards where educational systems are lacking, I would recommend creating some kind of UN agency with the power to monitor member nations' education system, and intervene where standards are unacceptable.